Marc Cooper writes about a huge miss for the John Edwards camp at the Huffington Post:

The top leadership of the SEIU met all day Monday in Chicago to consider who to back in the Democratic primaries but decided to postpone any formal endorsement. For at least two years Edwards has been laboring to line up union support which his strategists see as crucial to any realistic chance to capture the Democratic nomination. "John had been counting on the unions as a sort of super-charger, an after-burner," said a California operative of the Edwards campaign. "But now we are in danger of a flame-out."

And that this is all a huge bitter blow considering all the work Edwards has done since 2004, when he was the labor nominee:

Since the conclusion of the failed 2004 Democratic campaign, Edwards had been meticulously trying to build a solid, national union base. He walked endless picket lines, attended dozens of labor rallies and built strong personal relationships with top union leaders like Stern. His honed economic populist program was sweet music to union ears and six months ago an SEIU endorsement of Edwards seemed almost a slam dunk.

But that the SEIU is not about to get burned again:

SEIU officials are openly concerned that their once-favored Edwards is running a distant third in most national and state polls (with the exception of Iowa) and may no longer be a viable candidate, no matter how many union resources are poured into his campaign.

Harsh, but absolutely true. The unions are not about to get shut out of this years election by backing the wrong candidate. And the wrong candidate this year appears to be anyone who isn't named Hillary Clinton. At this point her high standing at the polls is a self-reinforcing feedback loop that is keeping endorsements away from her challengers. She's exactly where she wants to be.

This must feel like a bitter blow to the John Edwards campaign, but it's good therapy, that someone is telling them the truth. John Edwards is not a viable national candidate. The message is great, he's a hard worker no doubt, but the difference between his message and the others is not different enough. He may stick to it to the January, but He'll be out by February. That's my prediction.